1/16/99 Pt 1: Our plane lifted off out of Denpasar a half hour late (1:30am), but it was an easy flight and we arrived in Tokyo around 7am. Stored our baggage in a locker, picked up some tourist info, and headed downtown on the train… It took over an hour to get to the Tokyo Station downtown! Yep, this is a big city… We had a terrific time wandering around the Chiyoda District, the parkland area surrounding the Imperial Palace… We saw the Donjon, the Buddakan arena/theater, a huge Shinto Shrine, a great park on the palace grounds… It is a real shame that we only had several hours to see this city. Yet I don’t think we could have afforded staying much longer! Just to get downtown from the airport cost us about $50 on public transportation!… Back at Narita Airport we boarded our plane, and had bad seats on a full flight. Fortunately for us the steward in our section was a Hawai’ian with an understanding heart. We explained Ruth’s need for a little more space, because of the lingering back pain, and he found us three empty seats in a row and let us move there! A very nice blessing on our very last international flight…
NOTE: The photo above shows Ruth and I in the last international selfie on our round-the-world trip, with the Imperial Palace in the background, while in the Chiyoda District of Tokyo, Japan.

Swans swam before and after
Sun now ignites leaves
(The bridge to the Imperial Palace, in Chiyoda District, Tokyo, Japan.)

